Albuquerque-Okinawa Connection

This weekend, Uncanny Entertainment and Third Star Films are proud to present the U.S. premiere of the feature film Jigoku at Guild Cinema in Nob Hill. The film is a giant monster movie set in Japan but features a cast and crew of largely New Mexico-based talent. Writer-director Phillip Hughes, formerly of Albuquerque’s Eat Drink and Be Larry comedy troupe, moved to Okinawa, Japan, several years ago and began work on his debut feature. The story concerns a group of international students on a leadership program in Southeast Asia. Stopping in Okinawa in the wake of a sudden typhoon, the group finds the city deserted. But are they truly alone? Not by a long shot. An eclectic group of actors and crew from New Mexico, New Zealand, England, Canada and Okinawa came together to shoot Jigoku in the summer of 2006. Post-production was based out of New York, while the effects work and musical score were completed in New Mexico.

Requiem for a Heavyweight with less talk and more rock!

If Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman can be considered the perfect encapsulation of crumbling manhood in ’50s America, then Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler is the ideal contemporary companion piece—an equally crushing dissection of masculinity in free fall. Whereas increasingly impoverished salesman Willy Loman found his American Dream crushed under the weight of post-World War II responsibility, aging pro wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson finds his fame and fortune disintegrating in the post-millennial U.S. of A.

Hoffman and Thompson bring experience to the “slowmance” genre

Back in 1967, Dustin Hoffman made an indelible impression on cinematic history by crashing a certain wedding in The Graduate. Roughly 42 years later, Hoffman finds himself in a similar matrimonial milieu in Last Chance Harvey. A lot has changed in those 40-odd years, and Last Chance Harvey wisely exploits Hoffman’s well-aged persona.

Inauguration around the dial

Back in November, our nation watched eagerly as Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election. So why wouldn’t we be there for him again, channel-surfing as he’s sworn in as the 44th President of the United States this coming Tuesday? And while we’re at it, why not get the party started early?

Week in Sloth

The Week in Sloth